


Spider-man's Girlfriend

by Okamichan6942



Series: Tying Up Loose Ends [3]
Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Extended Scenes, F/M, Gen, Just a little at least, Spoilers!, does this count as whump?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 11:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okamichan6942/pseuds/Okamichan6942
Summary: Miles has some serious misgivings about this Mary Jane lady. (spoilers Act III and beyond)





	Spider-man's Girlfriend

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to write the Miles perspective that I’d seen left open during the game’s act 3 to tell this story that I saw, and only one other ficcer had even touched on it. *maybe lame excuse* Normally, I’m a linear writer, but I bounced around the chronology in writing this fic and tried not to make it a disjointed mess. Even though this is a something I wanted to see more of in the game, I really didn’t plan this, and tried to fit things together as organically as I could and it all predicates on the fact that we never actually saw Miles and MJ interact or even talk about each other in the game, besides one scene in the game. . Reallyreally hope it works.

Miles rushed up the stairs with the heavy box. The pounding of his steps echoed loudly in the empty stairwell. The box weighed him down, and his arms and legs ached by the time he reached the top. He ignored the strain, because Spider-man needed water! He did pause just in front of the door to the roof where Spider-man and Mary Jane waited so that he could catch his breath rather than look like a little thing like stairs could wind him. He also needed a chance to cough the remaining smoke out of his lungs. He caught some snippets of conversation just as he opened the door.

“-till partners?”

“Always.”

Miles shifted the box to one hand and immediately started to rifle through it. “Hey, uh, so I didn’t know if, uh, you wanted sparkling, or flat, or spring, or mountain spring” he said holding up each as he found them in the box, “so I got one of each-”

The familiar-looking red-headed lady and Spider-man both looked… awkward was the only word he could think of for it.

He set the box on the ground, suddenly realizing that maybe he had a really bad sense of timing. He gestured at the door. “Am I… interrupting?”

Spider-man cleared his throat. “No, uh. MJ-Ms. Watson and I were just talking strategy,” he said as the lady got to her feet.

Miles glanced back and forth, still aware of the tense atmosphere between the two. He really thought she looked familiar, but… “Strategy?” he asked hopefully, sliding down the rail. Not trying to get closer to his hero, not a bit.

Mary Jane took a deep breath, brushing her pony tail off her shoulder. “That’s right. The city is in danger; it needs our help.”

“ **All** of our help,” Spider-man cut in with some kind of weird look at her, discernible even with the mask.

Ignoring whatever had passed between them, Miles couldn’t help but to jump at the chance to help his hero. “Alright, well. Call the play, coach.”

Spider-man looked at the two of them and stood, visibly wincing. “Okay. Divide and conquer. Ms. Watson,” he said turning those wide staring lenses down at her, “we need an antiserum for Devil’s Breath. Oscorp’s developing something, but there’s no way they can keep it safe from Octavius and Li. We need to find the cure and protect it.”

Mary Jane nodded as the superhero took a moment to wheeze for breath. “I’ll chase down some leads.”

Spider-man then turned to regard Miles. “Miles – you need to be my eyes and ears at F.E.A.S.T. Anything goes wrong call me. We need to keep that place and the people there safe.”

Miles nodded, heart swelling with pride that he’d be helping Spider-man(!!), and ready to earn his hero’s respect. He wasn’t sure why the shelter was so important, but there was no denying how much of a target it was to the inmates. It fit with Spider-man’s superhero persona, who, unlike the Avengers, focused just as much on the safety of individuals as he did the entire populace. “Alright, you’ve got it… what are you gonna do?”

Spider-man stood tall, arms at his side as though he’d not been wheezing and in pain only moments before. “A gang of costumed nut-jobs is taking the city apart piece by piece. Time I returned the favor.” With that the webbed-suited hero turned to climb the short staircase.

“Alright.” Miles nodded, trying to think of anything else that might have been forgotten. Call? “Hey wait – um, how do I call you?” His stomach dropped at the look Spider-man turned on him. Though maybe that was just Miles’ apprehension with everything happening, twisting his thoughts.. “I mean do you have like a cellphone in your... in your pockets, or something?”

Spider-man sighed and gestured to the other person on the roof. “Ms. Watson can give you my number. Good luck, team.” Then he was gone, climbing up a line shot out to a taller building.

Miles blinked and turned to Mary Jane in shock. “You have his number… are you… Spider-man’s girlfriend? That would be so cool, if...”

He vaguely remembered a dust-covered red-head crying ‘ _Come on say something. Please.’_ But that day was such a blur he couldn’t remember if it was her... or someone else. ‘ _Can you hear me? Peter!’_

Mary Jane interrupted his thoughts with a wave of her hand. “Come on, Sherlock. Show me what you’ve got in this water smörgasbord.”

Miles followed her up and knelt down next to the box. He started as he realized, “Spider-man didn’t take any water!”

Mary Jane rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well. He’s good like that. I know he appreciated the gesture though.” She lifted one of the bottles and rolled it around so she could read the label “We’ll make sure to save one of the flats for him.”

Miles was a lot of things; stupid wasn’t one of them. She was avoiding the question. Maybe that was because a superhero’s girlfriend could invite a lot of problems. Did she know his secret identity? (Oh my god, had she had _done the nasty_ with _Spider-man?_ ) She was pretty, but Miles didn’t know if she could rate a superhero… no, no, no. Way to be judgey, Miles. He barely knew her. After all she did come and help when he and May had been stuck in that burning building.

Still, hadn’t Spider-man called her, ‘MJ’. He’d seen her with Peter too, right? At his dad’s funeral?

He’d been around long enough at F.E.A.S.T. to have heard about Peter being a hot item with ‘MJ’ some time ago. This couldn’t possibly be the same one, could it?

Mary Jane handed Miles a bottle of spring water. “You should drink something, too, Miles. Spider-man wouldn’t want you to suffer a heat stroke after he went through all that trouble to save you.” She put action to words by taking a swig out of one of the seltzer bottles. She stood, lifting the box with a soft grunt. “Come on. We should take these to May. She’ll need one, as well.” She glanced in the direction Spider-man had left, a strange expression on her face. “Besides, we’ve got jobs to do.”

Miles nodded and stood. He took the box without really thinking, He’d never be able to live with himself if he let Spider-man’s girlfriend carry something that heavy.

Even if she might have broken his friend’s heart.

Miles never thought he’d have to be conflicted about who he should care about more, Peter Parker, or Spider-man? What kind of a choice was that?

“So,” he said, unable to stop the question from coming out. “Did you break up with Pete to date Spider-man then?”

Mary Jane jerked to a stop and whirled on him. “What made you think I was ever dating Peter?” Her voice hit some oddly panicked pitches.

“You’re the infamous MJ, right? That’s what everyone at the shelter says.”

She laughed, though Miles didn’t think it sounded like genuine humor. “Infamous, really?”

Miles shifted the box in his hands, wishing he had left a hand free. He needed to… not open his mouth quite so freely. “Not infamous in a _bad_ way. Just, no one can believe you left such a nice guy like Pete, I guess.”

She closed her eyes and took a measured breath, as though she was counting to ten silently to herself. “Pete _is_ a great guy. But I had my reasons to br-which are quite frankly none of your concern.” She shook her head and hurried down the stairs and away from the conversation.

Miles frowned, because she still hadn’t confirmed or denied neither being Spider-man’s girlfriend nor the reason she’d broken up with Peter. Which in itself was an answer, as far as he was concerned.

He wasn’t sure he liked that thought very much. Spider-man deserved better.

~*~*~*~*~

Miles hurried through the doors of the shelter. The place seemed louder and more crowded than when he left. Maybe it was the blood still pounding in his ears from his escape from the Rhino and those asshole convicts. He could still feel the bones of that guy’s jaw against his knuckles, and his hand still ached a little from the impact.

Peter had taken the news of Miles’ close call pretty well, all things considered.

It had been a surprising reaction compared to how his dad or mom (especially his mom) would have behaved given the same news. Miles stopped at the medical station and handed the bottles he’d grabbed over to the volunteer distributing supplies

“I’m sorry, Vicki That’s all I could get.”

Victoria took the two measly bottles of antibiotics from him. “It’s okay, Miles. Anything is helpful, right now.”

Peter made his way through the scattered mess of beds that covered the floor in an absolute disarray. He didn’t run, but he rushed, his eyes intent on Miles. “Thank god, you’re safe. I couldn’t leave until I knew you were back.”

“Sorry if you worried, Pete. I could only get two...”

“Anything is better than what we had,” he said, unknowingly echoing what Victoria had just told him. “You did good. Listen, Aunt May’s not looking good at all, though. You going to be okay to hold down the fort without her?”

Miles couldn’t help the widening of his eyes. “Is she okay?”

The corners of Peter’s mouth tilted down, concern knitting his brows. “I hope she’s just tired. But I can’t be sure.”

Miles took a calming breath; Spider-man, May and Peter needed him to be strong right now. He rolled his shoulders back. “You can count on me.” Peter and Spider-man both!

Peter smiled, his eyes pinched at the corners. “I knew I could depend on you.” He nodded Miles ahead. “Come on, I’ll help with lunch in the kitchen for a little bit, before I head back out.”

Miles grinned and bounced on his heels as he lead the way to the kitchen. Peter was so easy to talk to, his gentle voice and demeanor pulled words out of Miles better than his therapist ever could. Miles told him about the people he’d met and what he’d heard from around the city. Peter added bits of insight about some of the regulars, and what he’d seen around the city. Warnings about things not to mention to certain people, and places to avoid in the city. Kinda scary hearing that some of the convicts were setting up bases in some of the neighborhoods.

“Where’s your mom?” Peter asked abruptly, pausing as he cubed the potatoes. “I meant to ask that sooner, sorry.”

Miles didn’t stop as he carefully cut up the carrots. “She’s fine. She’s holed up with one of her friends. They should be safe, because the husband is kind of a gun nut.”

Peter heaved another sigh. “Good. That’s really good.” He finished the potatoes and dumped them into the stew pot.

“I thought Aunt May said that you weren’t any good in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, maybe when I was a teen at her house. But I have lived by myself for a while and it’s expensive eating out all the time. So I had to learn or starve.” Pete shrugged and started quartering the mushrooms.

Miles paused in adding the carrots to the mix. “Ugh, mushrooms, Pete? We’re not Mario!”

Peter grinned, but that didn’t stop him from working on the disgusting things. “Talking mushrooms were my nightmare when I was a kid. Kinda feels like a victory that I’m eating them, now, instead of the other way around.”

Miles snorted, as he measured the spices and added them next. “How are mushrooms scary? Disgusting, yes. Scary, not so much.”

“Hey, I was a kid. And Toad was creepy. Didn’t say it made sense.” Pete huffed a little chuckle. “Now, I’ve got much scarier things to worry about.” His eyes focused on a point in front of him, eyes haunted. “A lot scarier.”

Miles laughed. “I’d usually think you were talking about bills and taxes, like Dad used to say.” The smile slid off his face at his own mention of his Father, but he couldn’t help but think about what Spider-man had said about the costumed nut-jobs and what Peter had been saying about the convicts, “but there are scarier things out there right now.”

Peter did pause in cutting the mushrooms then. He put a hand on Miles shoulder, and squeezed with a surprising amount of strength. “Hey, there’s always bad things out in the world, but there’s good things out there, too. Those who are able, should make sure that the good is as prevalent as they can make it. That’s what you’re doing here, it’s good work to help people less fortunate than you or me. If it’s within our power, then it should be our responsibility. My uncle used to tell me something… mostly like that.” Peter smiled and went back to his work on the mushrooms.

Miles nodded. “Yeah. That makes sense. That’s what F.E.A.S.T. is about, right?”

“That’s right.” A chirrup interrupted their conversation. Pete paused and checked his phone. He hissed a sharp breath through his teeth. “Add those,” he said pointing at the cubes of browned beef. “Let the stew cook for 45 minutes and then get the mushrooms in there...”

Miles interrupted him, he didn’t know what Peter was doing when he wasn’t at the shelter, especially with all the convicts running around. It had to be important, or he wouldn’t leave the safety of the shelter. “Aunt May wrote the recipe down, Pete. I got this.”

Peter nodded. He grimaced again, and then headed out, but he stopped by the couch where Mary Jane sat with her laptop. He leaned over the back of the couch and they chatted for a little bit, laughing briefly. Then Peter seemed to sober and he gestured up to the second floor. Mary Jane touched the arms he braced on the couch, her eyebrows knitted together. Peter didn’t stay much longer with her, but continued on out the door. Mary Jane’s gaze remained on the door a little before she glanced around the room.

Her eyes settled on Miles staring at her from the kitchen and even from that distance, he could see the blush coloring her face. She ducked her head, suddenly focused on her laptop again, but her shoulders remained tense.

They seemed really comfortable to be a couple that had broken up and supposedly not even spoken to each other for half a year. Miles narrowed his eyes, wondering how Spider-man felt about his girlfriend being on such friendly terms with her ex. Miles didn’t like it, and Mary Jane’s blush only continued to confirmehis suspicions as far as he was concerned.

Peter was gone, and Miles had finished cubing the beef, so he tossed it in the pot and ducked out of the kitchen to make a phone call.

The other side picked up after only a couple of rings, and Spider-man’s voice came through, breathless as though he were moving quickly. “Miles, is everything okay?

“Yeah. Look, I wanted to tell you what I saw down at one of the relief centers a little bit ago...”

~*~*~*~*~

Miles rested his head in his hands. He ached all over and was just so tired. The day had drifted its way into an orange sunset, until night washed over the city.

“Miles, are you okay?”

Miles lifted his head and smiled at Aunt May. “I’m okay Aunt May. Just needed to close my eyes.” The smile faded as she turned away to cough.

“You can’t help anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Look what happened to me, for instance.” She chuckled, dry and humorless, interrupted by another coughing fit. Aunt May grabbed a tissue from the bedside table. She crumpled it in her fist when she finished, but Miles had seen the red stain in the folds.

He stood. “You should be resting, Aunt May. You’re sick. I’m fine. It’s just been a long day, but I can handle it.”

The look of concern still knit Aunt May’s brows.

Miles felt bad, making her worry about him when she should be taking care of herself instead.

“Aunt May, you awake?” Mary Jane ducked into the room, carrying two steaming mugs with spoons clicking around inside She paused when she saw Miles, and offered him a stiff smile. “Oh... Hey Miles. Didn’t see you there.”

Aunt May’s brows rose into her hairline.“MJ, dear. When did you get here?” She reached out a hand.

“Not too long ago.” Mary Jane passed Miles and placed one of the mugs in May’s outstretched hand. “Do you think you can hold something down, Aunt May?”

Aunt May made a face at the mug, but spoke pleasantly to Mary Jane. “It’s so good to see you. Does Peter know your here?”

A hint of red crept across Mary Jane’s neck, and Miles caught surreptitious glances tossed his way, as Mary Jane answered. “Yeah, he saw me.” She cleared her throat and turned to hand Miles the other mug. “You look like you need this more than I do, Miles.”

“I was just telling Peter not too long ago that I hoped you two could work things out. You’d make such beautiful babies, and I would love to see them before I’m too old to enjoy them.”

The flush made its way across Mary Jane’s face at that and she avoided Miles’ eyes, flinching at Aunt May’s words. “Yeah, well. Things don’t always work out.”

“You’re still young, and friends, right? So-”

“But MJ already has a boyfriend.” Miles bit his tongue when he realized what had slipped out of his mouth. There he goes talking without thinking again, when would he learn to just keep his mouth shut?

The look Mary Jane gave him could have peeled pain.

“Oh.” There was no denying the disappointment in Aunt May’s voice, but that faded away as she lifted an eyebrow at Mary Jane. “I’m certain he’s not nearly as nice as Peter.”

“Really?” Mary Jane hissed at Miles. She took a deep breath, composed her face, and turned to Aunt May. “Not gonna deny that guys like Peter are hard to find. You should eat something, Aunt May. Miles is going to help me look for… this thing. In the storage room.” Mary Jane took Miles by the shoulder and hauled him out of the room.

“But I haven’t finished-”

“You can bring it,” she snapped.

She dragged him into an empty hallway before she whirled on him. “Why would you say _that_? She doesn’t need to know anything about _that_. _”_

“What? It’s not like I said _who_ you’re dating.”

Mary Jane raised a finger to silence him. “Superhero relationships one-oh-one. You don’t tell people you’re in a relationship with a superhero. Saves me from being a target, and him from having to worry about me so much. Trust me,  _superheroes_ worry enough for everyone involved.”

“So, what? You can’t even tell Pete you’re unavailable? Cause, you’d have to be blind not to see that he’s hoping to get back together with you.” 

Mary Jane crossed her arms, but Miles could see how tightly she clenched her fists. “Pete and I are friends first, before anything else, but even he can’t know.”

“So you playing both fields then? I saw you flirting with Pete,” Miles snapped when she opened her mouth to object.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she set her jaw. “I don’t want to hurt Peter. No matter what you think.” She took a deep breath, though her eyes still flashed with anger. “ I have work to do.” She spun on her heels, her ponytail whipping behind her and stormed off.

Miles rubbed the back of his neck. That could have gone better. He turned and went back to sit with Aunt May a little longer, ostensibly to finish the soup Mary Jane had brought. He also wanted to just bask in the calming presence of Peter’s Aunt for a little bit.

Superhero relationships 101, huh? How long had she been going out with Spider-man with that kind of knowledge? (Yeah, there would be no more trying to deny it after what she’d said. She’d all but admitted it.) Miles ground his teeth, because she’d also not denied flirting with Pete. That bitch.

~*~*~*~*~

Miles sorted through the boxes that Sarah had brought in, using a recently emptied and cleaned gurney to place the items. It was the only free space in the shelter. He needed to stay busy, because he couldn’t keep dwelling on the fact that Aunt May was _not getting better._ Or the fact that he couldn’t get a hold of Peter. 

Then the door burst open and the lady that ran the mercenaries and some other guy strode in, dragging the limp body of Spider-man between them. Miles gasped and swiped everything he’d just been sorting onto the floor.

The man looked around and focused on Miles. “I need to speak to your head doctor.”

“Uh,” Miles shook his head, wondering where the man thought he was and snapped back. “There’s no doctors here!”

The guys eyes squinted. “Well who’s running this place?”

Miles looked around. “Me, mostly.”

“Oh.” The man seemed to visibly deflate, but nodded acceptance. “Okay. Well, it’s been a while, but I’ll do my best.”

Kurt, John and the mercenary lady laid Spider-man on the gurney that Miles had cleared.

The guy (a doctor?) turned to Spider-man, hands hovering over a bloody tear in Spider-man’s side. “I’ll need masks, gloves, whatever you have that’s sterile.”

Miles didn’t have time to see what was wrong, but he’d noticed how still Spider-man was. Spider-man should be swinging over the city, or running up walls. He didn’t think he’d seen any times when Spider-man was so still. Even when he was perched on a ledge or a tower, his head would be turning and tilting as he scanned the city below, shoulders heaving with the enormous effort of his webswinging.

Miles guts twisted, and he wanted to throw up. But he swallowed that feeling, because they needed him. He ran to grab a box of what passed for medical supplies at F.E.A.S.T: masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, bandages.

The silver-haired-lady-whose-name-Miles-couldn’t-remember leaned over Spider-man, her gray eyes bright and mouth set in a grimace.

Miles returned in time to hear Spider-man thank her, his voice weak and _wrong_.

She responded (in a really sexy accent), “You can thank me by not _dying_.”

Miles set the box down, staring down at the fucking rib sticking out of Spider-man's suit. Dr. Michaels had lifted the bottom of the hero’s mask to fit an oxygen mask over his face. Blood flecked on the pale lips beneath the fabric, and the mouth opened, wheezing air in shallow breaths.

“Oh my god.”

Miles eyes shot up, wondering who had read his mind. He was dizzy from the amount of blood that covered the costume. He couldn’t imagine what kept Spider-man conscious, and not screaming in pain.

Mary Jane had just walked in.

Miles stepped away, getting out of the way of the adults running around Spider-man’s prone body. What did you for the girlfriend of his favorite hero when he was laid out like a cadaver.

“Boy,” the guy snapped.

Miles jumped and ran around for whatever the guy would need to save Spider-man. It meant that Miles didn’t have time to think about what would happen if the hopefully-doctor-guy couldn’t save Spider-man. What would happen to the city, then? So he kept running, ignoring Mary Jane who stood rooted in the same spot during the whole operation. The air hung too heavy with the words they’d exchanged earlier, for him to give her any words of comfort. Even when the doctor didn’t need him, the shelter did.

Spider-man walked out of F.E.A.S.T over an hour later. as though he hadn’t just been dragged in with a compound fracture of a rib and a pierced lung. The guy, Doctor Michaels, had said some words that would have resulted in Miles getting a mouthful of soap if his mom ever heard them coming out of his mouth.

Miles went to check on Aunt May, shaking one hand, and rubbing the creepy crawlies from his other hand on his pant leg. The spider bite he’d gotten earlier, throbbed painfully, but hadn’t swollen, so he couldn’t afford to stop and take care of it.

He found Mary Jane sitting in the chair at Aunt May’s bedside, bent over with her arms folded over the back of her head. Her shoulders shook, and her breath shuddered.

Miles hesitated. “Hey, uh, bad time?” he asked. “I’m just checking...”

Mary Jane took a deep breath and sat up. “No. No. You’re fine.” Her red rimmed eyes blinked, and she quickly swiped her fingers over her cheeks. “I’ve got...”

“Have you heard from Pete?” Miles asked, cutting her off. He’d tried reaching Pete on his phone half an hour ago, but it had gone to voice mail every time.

Mary Jane shook her head, dropping her chin. “I haven’t... really tried.”

“Some friend.” Miles turned around, deciding to move on with his next task.

Mary Jane stood, and took a step toward him, her hand outstretched, even though he was several feet away. “I’m sure that Pete’s fine, but Miles, you look terrible. You need to get some rest.”

Miles didn’t turn as he walked out the door. “Spider-man just walked out of here. How can I do any less?” He paused and frowned. “Do you know where he went?”

“Spidey?” Mary Jane took a deep breath. “To get the serum, I hope.” She hugged herself. “Maybe even talk some sense into Octavius, if he can. God, I hope he can.”

~*~*~*~*~

Miles wished he could sit at Aunt May’s side in Pete’s place. So much needed to be done around the shelter though. _Come on, Pete. Aunt May needs you._ _Why haven’t you gotten back yet?_ He’d checked on her again, and Dr. Michaels caught the end of a conversation where he told Mary Jane that Aunt May wouldn’t last another hour. The sick deteriorated so rapidly, Aunt May wouldn’t be the first they lost, nor likely the last.

Dr. Michaels walked out of the room where Aunt May rested, another check as the hour rapidly passed.. Mary Jane hovered briefly before stepping away from the door (but not going too far). She hugged herself, face pained.

Miles made sure the nameless woman that Gloria had brought in had a blanket, and a mask.

An alarm suddenly broke through the undercurrent of conversation. Coming from May’s office.

_Aunt May!_

Miles rushed to Aunt May’s office.

Mary Jane beat him into the room. He couldn’t see inside the room from this angle, but he heard Mary Jane’s voice, if not her words.

By the time Miles got to the room, out of breath, and queasy (he couldn’t afford to get sick too!), Mary Jane was walking away from the window, a hand over her mouth and tears streaming down her cheek.

Metal trashcans crashed and skittered in the alley outside.

“Stupid cat,” Mary Jane said after a moment of startled staring at the window.

Miles didn’t care about any cat, his eyes were all for Aunt May’s still body. His chest ached, heart squeezed in his chest. He reached out a hand to take a pulse, but the heart monitor already told the story he expected.

Dead. Aunt May was dead.

“I’ve already called Peter,” she said, her voice rough with tears. “He’ll be here in a bit.” Mary Jane hugged herself, and wiped her eyes. “I’m going to sit with Aunt May, and wait for Pete to get here.” She blinked at Miles for a moment. “Oh, Miles. I’m sorry, for you too.” She came over to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

Miles hadn’t even realized he’d been crying; he wiped at his running nose, then his eyes. Having it pointed out only made it worse and no amount of blinking or controlled breathing helped.

“Thank god,” broke into their quiet sobbing.

Miles looked up to see Dr. Michaels had gotten around them at some point. He held an innocuous blue bottle in one hand. The older gentleman noticed Miles watching and pocketed the bottle. He paused on his way at the room. “I’m sorry for your loss, but I can’t stay. I need to get more of this manufactured,” he said, tapping his pocket.

Miles’ eyes widened. “You have the antiserum, but how? Where-” His breath hitched with surprise. “Was Spider-man here? I didn’t see him.” Why would he disappear so quickly?

“Yes, he was here.” Mary Jane’s hand flew up to her mouth and she turned and dashed out of the room. But not before she’d sobbed once, loudly.

Dr. Michaels had disappeared, and what could Miles do now? He’d hoped to show Aunt May everything he’d accomplished while she’d been sick. Now? Miles flopped into the chair, burying his face in his hands and he couldn’t help the ragged sobs that wracked his body.

Sometime while he’d been crying the exhaustion he’d been suppressing finally took its toll. Miles woke up, eyes puffy and nose disgusting. He sat up and pushed the blanket off.

“Are you still tired?”

Miles squinted, but it was Mary Jane, sitting in the other chair, next to the gurney, that had asked, not Aunt May.

May was still dead.

Miles scrunched his eyes close, breathing out in an effort not to start up again, but he could hear the whine that squeezed out of his throat. His heart ached no matter what he tried. “I’m fine. Has Pete shown up?”

Mary Jane rested her elbows on her knees, rubbing at her cheeks again. “No. I can’t get a hold of him. I was getting ready to go looking for him. He really shouldn’t be alone, right now.”

“H-Hey! I need a hand here,” someone shouted from the floor below.

Miles met Mary Jane’s eyes and they both stood in a rush and hurried to the shelter’s entry.

Miles’ stomach twisted again, and he hissed between his teeth. Mary Jane’s strangled cry of alarm rang out in the quieted building, and she dashed forward.

“Oh my god, Peter!” She stopped in front of his limp form, carried between three of the shelter’s residents, though Miles couldn’t put a name to any at that moment. Her hands hovered over his face, as though she couldn’t decide if she wanted to touch him. “What happened? Where was he? Where did you find him?”

Ernie (that’s his name) tilted his head toward the door, staggering a bit under the weight of Pete’s legs. “He was lying out there on the steps. Hodges found him...”

“May...”

Everyone froze and looked at Peter.

“Holy shit I didn’t expect him to be conscious.”

Mary Jane knelt in front of Peter, her hand resting on his cheek. “Peter, you awake?”

Peter’s head lolled, and the faintest hint of his brown eyes showed beneath his eyelids. “May… need to see...” Pain twisted his face, and tears joined the rain on his cheeks. His head slumped again with a groan.

The men carried Pete to a free gurney and laid him on it. One of them opened his shirt, and they all hissed a sharp intake of breath at what they saw.

It looked like someone had taken a bat to Peter’s torso, his belly and chest covered in colors that couldn’t be healthy. Every breath caught in his chest, short and shallow, and Miles wondered how many broken ribs they would find.

“Blood on his shoulder, too” Ernie gesturing at the reddened fabric. Miles didn’t hesitate to peel the shirt away from the sticky mess of blood congealed over his shoulders.

“What the hell happened?” Larry asked.

Kevin flipped the collar of the shirt back and forth. “Why doesn’t his shirt have a hole in it?”

Mary Jane jerked upright, looking up from where she’d been checking his eyes. Her eyes widened as she examined the hole in in his shoulder, wiping the mess of blood away. “City full of convicts. Remember? This is going to need to be stitched.”

Miles grabbed gloves, mask and bandages. “I’m not sure if we have anything to stitch him up. This isn’t a hospital.”

“Right. Then,” Mary Jane shook her head, “bandages will have to do.”

Mary Jane took over then, instructing Kevin to help her maneuver Pete’s shoulder and arm so she could bandage his shoulder and stymie the bleeding with as much gauze as she could apply..

Miles wondered if he should be surprised that Mary Jane knew first aid, or if she had learned it to help Spider-man. She seemed so sure about what she was doing though, as though she’d had years to practice. Miles frowned. He wanted to stay with Peter now, but things still needed to be done around the shelter. (would he die?) Mary Jane worked on Peter with wet eyes, but the tears had dried on her face. (like Aunt May) Miles feet wouldn’t move, like he had lead weights attached, or cement blocks over his shoes. (like Dad?)

Miles felt hot and cold at the same time. Fevered. Nauseous. He wanted to run.

Because Peter could die like everyone else close to Miles’ heart.

Peter woke again, May’s name on his lips as he struggled to sit up.

Miles moved then, joining the others in holding Peter down. He grabbed Peter’s arm, as the three other men put their hands on his good shoulder, chest and legs. It was not easy. Peter was surprisingly strong and muscled beneath his loose fitting clothes.

Mary Jane grabbed Peter’s jaw, trying to force his half-shuttered eyes to her. “Pete, Pete. Look at me. Please. It’s too late, Pete. It’s too late. You need to stay here.” She repeated the words like a mantra.

Finally Peter did look up at Mary Jane, his breath ragged. His face crumpled and he stopped fighting to sit up. He grabbed Mary Jane’s hand from his face with his good hand, and clenched her fingers as though she were an anchor. He cried, his sobs broken and hitching with his pained, shallow breaths..

A blush crept over Mary Jane’s face, but she curled her fingers into his hand and brushed his rain-soaked hair back and out of his face. “I’m here, Pete. I know,” she said, softly, pressing the back of his hand to her damp cheeks. She looked up, eyes bright with tears. “I’m going to stay with him, until we can get an ambulance out here.”

Miles nodded, and left.

Staggered up the stairs, shaking and weak.

Peter could have died. Like everyone else. Like Aunt May had died.

He went to the quietest place he knew. Aunt May lay on the gurney, still as stone.

Miles collapsed into the chair, his own breathing ragged, wiping at the tears he hadn’t known were running down his face again. His skin felt hot to the touch, clammy and uncomfortable.

He didn’t remember falling asleep.

He only realized he had when he woke with a start at the needle jabbing into his arm.

Dr. Michaels knelt in front of him, focused on the syringe in his hand. “Stay with me kid, we’ll make sure you’re all right,” he said, his voice gruff.

Hands pulled him horizontal onto a cold, empty gurney.

Miles, still shivering between hot and cold, let himself lapse back into siren spell of blissful oblivion.

~*~*~*~*~

Miles glanced at his phone while Ganke was going over the latest bugs he’d found with the hacking app. His eyebrows lifted when he saw he’d missed a call from Peter.

He’d woken from his fevered dreams of dancing spiders and stampeding rhinos and immediately been drafted to help distribute the antiserum that Dr. Michaels had created. There hadn’t been time to think about Mary Jane and Peter until his mother told him the date for the funeral, reminding him that the city had lost one of its unspoken heroes in Aunt May.

Peter had kind of dropped off the face of the Earth after Aunt May’s funeral. He’d moved to Queens for a while to sort out his Aunt’s stuff and only recently had he been able to find a place in Manhattan again. Miles hadn’t wanted to pry, though he’d visited Peter in Queens with his mom and Mary Jane during Christmas break. The Peter that had greeted them at the door had been a far cry from the man that had helped Miles through his own dad’s death. Miles wished he could do the same for Peter, and Mom said to just keep in touch. So Miles had texted Peter at least once a week, occasionally talking on the phone when he answered the phone. Peter hadn’t actually called Miles without any kind of prompting for nearly three months. No way he could ignore it now.

“Hang on, that was Pete, just now.”

“Oh yeah, he still coming?” 

Mom had talked Mrs. Lee into letting Peter stay with them a few days while he waited for his apartment to become available, since he’d sold Aunt May’s place. Ganke had heard that Peter was just as nerdy as them and was interested in meeting someone else to talk tech to.

Miles tapped over to call Peter back. “I thought he was...” The phone rang once or twice and then Peter answered.

“Hey I was just leaving a voicemail.”

“No prob. What’s up?”

“So, uh...” he paused, and cleared his throat. He spoke fast, excited even. More like the Peter that Miles used to know. “Slight change of plans. Well, maybe more than slight. Yeah? Not that I don’t appreciate you and Ganke letting me crash at your place. It’s just… MJ’s gonna let me stay with her. At her place. I wanted to give you – to let you know.”

Miles’ jaw dropped. “I thought you guys weren’t going out?”

“Yeah, well that changed. I guess. Today?” 

That would explain the excitement.

“Okay,” Miles drawled trying to process the sudden change. “You still going to want our help moving in to your new place?”

“If I haven’t offended you by taking MJ up on her offer?”

Miles blinked. “Pshaw, no. Of course not. Where would you get that idea?”

“I dunno. Something in your voice. See you Saturday.”

“See ya,” Miles said, and hung up, his face heating. He hadn’t meant to let his... distaste for Mary Jane show that much.

Ganke lifted his eyebrows. “He’s not coming, is he?”

“Nope.” Apparently he got back together with Spider-man’s girlfriend. “He, uh... hooked back up with his ex, and is staying with her, instead.”

Ganke whistled. “Smooth. Wish I could have that kind of luck.”

Miles laughed and steered the conversation back to the issues with the hacking app. 

Was she two-timing them?  No way Peter knew. He’d have to figure out some way to bring it up on Saturday then.  That and the other thing that had been going on with him. He hadn’t even been able to bring  _ that _ up to Ganke.

Miles had a couple of days to think about it and thought he had an idea of how to bring both up when Saturday rolled around.

They’d already moved a few of the bigger pieces carried up the stairs, and Ganke had to run off to meet with the robotics club. Mary Jane was supposed to be joining them after running some errands.

Seemed like the perfect time.

Miles turned after seeing his friend out the door. He grabbed the heavy writing table waiting to be taken upstairs. They still had book shelves and so many boxes. “Hey Pete, now that Ganke’s not here, I’ve been wanting to get some advice about something.”

Peter, picked up his side of the desk, backing up the steps. “Yeah, go for it. Problems in school? If you’re having trouble with bullies...”

Miles followed Peter up the narrow staircase, past walls covered in peeling wallpaper and windows with frames covered in flaking paint. “Not what you’re thinking. See, there’s this girl… I like.” Miles trailed off, his cheeks heating up. He wasn’t lying really. There was a girl. Cute. Blonde hair. Blue-eyed. Way out of Miles’ depth.

“Oh.” Peter’s expressive face twitched as though uncertain. “You realize girls are not my specialty. At all, really.”

“Yeah, but this girl, she reminds me a lot about Mary Jane.” Except for the whole cheating bitch aspect, Miles kept that thought to himself, though.

“Sure, okay. I see where you’re coming from, but… I’d probably be more helpful dealing with bullies.” Peter grunted as he turned one of the hundreds of landing they had to take. “Or math. I’m really good with the math,” he added in a mutter.

“So I was thinking that since you managed to convince your ex girlfriend to take you back, you’d have some words of advice.”

Peter eyed Miles, smacking into the banister on the next landing as he turned. “I’m not sure that there was much ‘convincing’ on my part. Cause if she hadn’t wanted me there, I’d never look pathetic enough to talk her into anything.”

Miles laughed as they took the last flight of stairs, door finally in sight. “Seriously? I thought you had some deep secret about girls. I’ve been wanting to ask Gwen out since school started.”

Peter grinned and Miles realized he’d slipped up. “Gwen, huh?” Miles didn’t look forward to the teasing that was sure to come. “Well, I’m not an expert or anything, but I think it’s in the way that you ask her.” Peter kicked the door open behind him with a foot, glancing back so he wouldn’t knock the desk into the doorjamb

Miles groaned, trying not to be outdone by his friend. “I think I’m too nervous.”

Pete laughed as he looked around the apartment

“Alright, so where do you want this?”

Peter angled his elbow in a vague direction. “Right over here is fine.”

Arms aching, Miles could just say, “Right.”

They set the table down, and Peter went to slide a chair under the desk as though they had not just climbed fifty billion flights of stairs to his new apartment.

Fifty katrillion stairs had given Miles a chance to phrase how to bring up this... other thing that had been going on. Something he didn’t want to talk about in front of his mom, or Mary Jane. Or out in the hallway where anyone could hear.

“Hey, so Pete?” No time like the present, right?

“Yea?” Pete said, a little distracted by the faint whir of sirens on the street below. Not like it was a huge deal, this was New York City, after all.

“I, uh,” Miles bounced on his heels, anticipation twisting his gut, “kinda gotta talk to you about something I can’t tell my mom about...”

Pete walked away from the window, glancing down to see where the chair had ended up. “What’s up?”

“Well, um...” Miles shut the door, so no one else could hear them. “Weird things have been going on. Like, physically.”

Pete stared at Miles without a single look of comprehension, as Miles had expected. “Oh.” Then Pete’s eyes widened, and his head jerked, which Miles had not expected. “Oh!” Pete sucked in a breath, his eyes darting around, “...uh...Well, you know, you’re at that age where your body starts to change, and, so, you may be noticing some...areas… for examp--”

WHOAWHOAWHOA! This was not what Miles neither expected nor wanted. “No,” he said, sharply cutting Peter off mid lecture. Good god, he didn’t need that talk. He went to sex ed for crying out loud! “Not that.” Miles looked around, trying to figure out what to do with his hands. “Uhh… think it’s… it’s better that I just, um, I show you.” And he bent his legs and waist, feeling the tightness coiling in his hamstrings.

Pete took a step back, and Miles didn’t have to look to see the flash of alarm across the man’s face. “No… no no no no--”

For the second time that afternoon, Miles cut Peter off, this time by leaping into the air, managing to thump awkwardly onto the ceiling with all the grace of a duck landing in the muck. One hand stuck to the ceiling, allowing Miles to balance with the other. “It’s pretty weird, right?”

Peter reacted nothing like Miles expected. (There should have been a lot more freaking out and maybe even some screaming.) Instead Peter just smiled, bent his knees

_And leapt up to the ceiling across from Miles._

Miles could only stare, his jaw would have been hanging open, except that being upside down, gravity kept it firmly closed, but it didn’t wipe the wide grin off his face.

“Not that weird,” Peter said, his voice a gentle rush in the ensuing silence.

Miles broke that silence, when, in his surprise, he lost his grip on the ceiling and slammed into the wooden floor.

“Oh shit.” Peter dropped (much more gracefully) and helped Miles to his feet. “You okay there buddy?”

Miles grabbed Peter’s arm, and words “Y-You’re Spider-man. You! The amazing, spectacular-”

Peter set a hand on Miles’ shoulder to silence the stream of words spewing out of his mouth. “We’ve gone over that already. No need for a repeats” Peter grinned, though he hunched his shoulders self-consciously. “You might want to sit down before you fall again,” he said, gesturing at the bed in the corner.

Miles flopped down, staring at Peter, and trying to imagine Peter in Spider-man’s costume. It wouldn’t have fit, except that Miles could remember the muscles that Peter’s loose-fitting shirts hid. It looked ridiculous with Peter’s face though. Miles dropped his head in his hands, suddenly dizzy. “Hang on a sec. Were you and Mary Jane actually dating this whole time, or what?”

Peter’s lips twitched down for a moment. “No, we’d really broken up about nine months ago. She took me back just the other day.”

“I thought, I thought….” Miles stammered. “I thought she was two-timing you and-and Spider-man. I was going to tell you...”

Peter’s mouth rounded into an ‘oh!’ expression, then he leaned against the window frame and clutched his sides, bending over as he broke into a fit of helpless laughter. “S-sorry,” he said wiping his eyes and visibly struggling to regain himself. “Sorry. I haven’t had a good laugh like that… in a while. I’m okay, I’m-” He took a deep breath and lifted his head.

Whatever expression Miles wore on his face at that moment, must have been hilarious.

Because Peter busted out laughing again.

“MJ,” Peter said, when he’d _finally_ stopped breaking into laughter every time he looked at Miles, “told me something about that the other day.” He took a deep breath and sobered up surprisingly quick.”Though I have to say, MJ would never try and cheat on me or anyone. She’s not that kind of a girl-er woman.” He snorted and sat down on the bed next to Miles, his eyes still twinkling.“How long has this been going on?” He gestured at Miles, and then the ceiling.

“It kinda started a little while after the uh, plague was cured.” He had to remind himself not to bring up Aunt May’s death. Last he checked, that was still a sore subject. “I’ve uh… kinda been playing around with … my abilities I guess. I can’t seem to figure out how you make the webs. I try, and nothing happens.” He demonstrated, making a fist with his hands.

Peter chuckled , and stuck his hands out, opening his hands  and shaking his wrists. “They’re not organic. I’m still human, after all.”

Miles narrowed his eyes, brow furrowed. He leaned over and examined Peter’s hands. 

Buttons sat hidden in the creases of Peter’s palms, attached by a wire to the devices around his wrist. Both wrists had that weird bracelet, that Miles always figured to be some kind of a fitness device. Glancing at Peter for permission, Miles pressed one of the buttons. “Do those shoot-”

Webbing shot onto Mile’s sleeve with the distinctive squeak that always accompanied Spider-man’s webslinging.

Miles’ jaw dropped and he tugged at the line attached his jacket. It held firm.

“That’s designed to hold for a long time. I can break some of it off, and the rest will dissolve in a couple of hours.” He put action to words, and yanked some of the webbing off Mile’s coat, leaving a few strands floating in the stagnant apartment air.

“Dude, that is so cool!” Miles cleared his throat as his voice broke with his excitement. “How’d you come up with that?”

The grin turned into a smile,  and Peter . “Made them myself. The first ones… weren’t quite so pretty. They were big and awkward and I had  to carry them in my b ac k pack and scramble to get them on.” Peter stood, pushing his mop of hair out of his eyes. “I want to continue this conversation, but I don’t want to leave my things in the lobby where anyone can grab them. You can join MJ and I for dinner, and we can talk some more.”

Miles flinched at the mention of Peter (and Spider-man’s!) girlfriend.. He might have to apologize for the way he’d treated Mary Jane. “Wait, do I  _have_ to tell MJ about...” his words failed him and he waved at the ceiling.

Peter lifted his brows and shook his head. “That’s up to you, Miles. I’ll respect your decision, either way. It’s not my secret to tell, after all.”

Miles gaped for a moment. “You mean that? Really? Thanks Pete! You’re the best.” Miles bounced to his feet. 

Peter, still grinning, clapped Miles on the shoulder. “Any time, Miles. Any time.  If you don’t want her to know, you’re always welcome to come over when I’m home. I’ll answer any questions I can. ”

By the time Miles and Peter got down stairs, Mary Jane  had arrived and was  carrying a box up the stairs. She grinned at Peter, turning to shoulder block him when he tried to take the box from her. The smile fell when her eyes fell on Miles.  His presence didn’t stop her from shift ing the box out of the way to kiss Peter on the cheek. 

Miles stepped closer and relieved her hands of the heavy box. “Hey MJ. Let me take that, Pete doesn’t pack light.”

Mary Jane  jumped, startled and obviously not expecting Miles to take the box from her as she’d expected Peter to. She  frowned, looking between the two men, her eyes narrowed and contemplative. “Okay,” she drawled. “thanks Miles. But I’m just going to grab another box then.”

Miles gave her his most charming grin. “I know. But I got this one.” He turned on his heel and dashed back up the stairs. He paused on the next flight up and glanced down at the pair.

Peter murmured into Mary Jane’s ear, hand on her elbow, as she looked up at Miles, and a smile crossed her face. She met his eyes, and tilted her chin in a brief nod at him.

Forgiven.  T hough Miles  knew he  would still need to actually apologize to her. 

Miles would definitely need to reevaluate everything he thought about Mary Jane Watson. 

**Author's Note:**

> I relied on game scenes a lot more in this fic, hopefully enough was added to them to make it worth it. (OH MY GOD I TALK SO MUCH HERE *yammeryammeryammer*)
> 
> A couple of things I want to point out:
> 
> Per the prequel novel, (Ch. 16! I dug so hard to find the reference again, omg *dances in her seat, quietly on the side*) Peter and MJ’s relationship was kept on the down low, no ‘public record’. In the same book she tells the people at the Bugle she was his girlfriend (as opposed to his wife). So not a secret.
> 
> Peter and Miles interactions are so much fun! Can you tell I had fun?
> 
> Should I even continue doing the spoilers warning, who hasn’t beaten the game at this point and why would you be reading fanfics if you haven’t? (How about if I use a tag)
> 
> Don’t try to follow the recipe Miles and Pete were working on! I don’t know if it would work. (I might have mixed up two different ones during that scene)
> 
> Oh, hey. Did you know there’s now a comic based on the game? Looks like a retelling/condensed telling of the main story. The editor’s notes states that they’re going to include a few missing/extra scenes not in the game. I’m looking forward to seeing what they included compared to what I added (in this particular fic, as I *know* we won’t see SpideyJane smut). :D
> 
> I recognize that I suck at writing teens.
> 
> Pete’s next, and even though I’ve got his story started, I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to complete. Could be next week, could be next month. Definitely that story will have more SpideyJane smut.


End file.
